Firebringer at Playcrafters of Skippack

If you really don't want to do the work today, why not listen to us talk about Firebringer at Playcrafters of Skippack instead? We talked to director Sam Levy and the cast and crew of Firebringer about their work making this prehistoric production come to life. 

Firebringer will be playing at Playcrafters of Skippack from June 19 to July 12. For tickets and more information, visit: https://www.playcrafters.org/

Transcript

SPEAKER_09 0:00

Prefer this interaction. Okay, hold on just a second. I'm turning on the microphone. Okay. Tell me tell me what you just said.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

I just said I listened to every episode since the beginning, and this is a very well done podcast. Oh my gosh. We have an OG fan. I am your biggest fan. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_09 0:13

But I just want to let our listeners know that there is a ranking of fans. And right now, Laura is number one.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

If anyone wants to like take me on that, like spitting out facts about Laura, you might have to fight my mom. I think I would win. Rehearsal tracks.

SPEAKER_14 0:43

Rehearsal tracks.

SPEAKER_06 0:46

Hello and welcome to Rehearsal Tracks. I'm Aliza Furman.

SPEAKER_09 0:49

And I'm Laura Donnelly. Today is episode five, and we're talking about Firebringer at Playcrafters at Skidback.

SPEAKER_06 0:56

Yeah, we're really excited about this one because it's AAA, a show that neither of us really knew much about, I think. And also, this is our first time speaking with a director who wasn't already our friend.

SPEAKER_09 1:08

So one of the goals of this podcast has been achieved in that we have made a new friend.

SPEAKER_06 1:13

Yes, I opened my home to a complete stranger.

SPEAKER_09 1:18

He just wasn't a stranger to me.

SPEAKER_06 1:19

Right. Well, I opened my home to a stranger to both of us. And he not only did not kill us, but he also gave a great interview. Thank you, Sam.

SPEAKER_09 1:29

So we sat down with director Sam Levy and we talked about his vision and his process and his thoughts and hopes and dreams behind the show Firebringer, which is going up in a couple of weeks. We did minimal research.

SPEAKER_06 1:45

I'm gonna be so completely. I did, I read the Wikipedia page and I listened to three quarters of the soundtrack.

SPEAKER_09 1:50

Well, Alisa did some research before our um interview with Sam, but I did none. And I think this is because our interview with Sam was happening along the same times as Sweetie, and I was just I did not have the capacity for it. But we learned a lot from our interview with Sam, and I was lucky enough at this time because I no longer have a rehearsal schedule, that I had the time to go out to the Crafters and Sitback and interview the entire cast during one of their music rehearsals. And this was my first time without Aliza.

SPEAKER_06 2:22

Yeah, because now I'm the busy one.

SPEAKER_09 2:24

She's the busy one, she's ahead of reveals, which will happen closed by the time this goes up.

SPEAKER_06 2:28

But I hope you saw it because as you know, if you haven't seen it, you hate us.

SPEAKER_09 2:34

If you don't want us to think that you hate us and come and see our shows. So, Aliza, the question we're asking our firebringer cast that I now bring to you is what is the work that you don't want to do today?

SPEAKER_06 2:45

Well, the one thing I really don't want to do today is I have amassed a very large backlog of hinge lights that I have to deal with. And I haven't opened the app in several weeks. Um, I actually let's lie, I opened a deposit because I was like, I'm not dealing with this right now. I'm too sexy. We've discussed this a lot. It's old news. Fatass is too sexy, etc. Biceps, big biceps, yeah. Fat ass, big biceps, too sexy. Um, but I have just um right now I my notifications say 60. I'm gonna tell you something, though them be rookie numbers. Great. No, now I feel bad about myself.

SPEAKER_09 3:24

No, no, ask me why I know this. Why do you know this? Because I was an absolute clown and I paid for bumble premium, and I'm going through my backlog of months of likes. And I'll tell you what, she had over 2500 when she took it. Jesus, and that's right. Over a week ago, and I have whittled it down now. I still have 600 likes.

SPEAKER_06 3:46

So this is our ad for bumble premium. No, no, this is not our ad for Bumble Premium because although she had 2500 likes, she matched with three people. Oh no. There's some real stinkers out there, but there's also some lovely people.

SPEAKER_09 4:02

Sure, but you know, America's most wanted. You don't need a dating profile.

SPEAKER_06 4:06

So, you know, you need to go into hiding, maybe. But do you want this most wanted? Which of us is America's most wanted? Dial in today. At rehearsal trackspod at gmail.com. Yes, please call us at rehearsalt at gmail.com. Anyway, the work I don't want to do today is that I have a very busy schedule right now. I don't have time to be fielding the many, many requests for the privilege to buy me dinner and drinks.

SPEAKER_09 4:39

Along the lines of having a busy schedule, Elisa, you are in a show at Head Overheels. And would you consider Head Over Heels an obscure musical?

SPEAKER_06 4:49

Yes, but no. So it was on Broadway. I would say it's not the most obscure show that I've done on account of it having been on Broadway. Three of the what, like six shows that I've been involved in so far that have not ever been on Broadway. I would say the most obscure one that I've done was The Ballad of King Henry at Clayers Club of Swarthmore, because that was an original production by Jeff Arg. Lovely show, fun to begin. It was a musical adaptation of King Henry IV part one, I believe. And obviously no one knew what the hell it was. So what about you? What is the most obscure show you've done? The most obscure show I've done was also a new work, and I did it professionally. It was a show. Does that make it more or less obscure than no? That's less obscure than mine because it was professional. Yeah, I think so. So it's not like a competition, but I I do win. Yeah. You beat me in likes, I beat you in obscure shows. No one knows me.

SPEAKER_09 5:47

I did a show called Trails Musical. It was a musical, obviously, about two men hiking the Appalachian Trail. And I performed this show at the Spirit of Broadway Theater in Connecticut. But before that performance of it, it had been weirdly adapted to be either performed in Japan or in Korea. I can't remember which, but I remember when I went into the casting hall, it was in the breakdown. They were like, recently brought back from Asia. Trails of the Musical explores two childhood best friends as they hike the Appalachian Trail and the Woman They Love. And you were the woman they love. Of course I was the woman they loved. Trails the Musical was the most obscure show I've ever done. Although I might surpass that. I did a one act competition in Manhattan at the Manhattan Repertory Theater. And we just did a one act, it was like 20 minutes called Fish Tacos. And it was about a woman with cancer who had just come back to her apartment after a month abroad to find a squatter living in her apartment. Interesting comments. So all this to say, we had a great time talking with Sam. We had a great time talking with the cast and the music director of Firebringer at Playcrafters of Skidback.

SPEAKER_06 7:03

Let's listen to what they had to say. Do you want to just introduce yourself and the show you're working on?

SPEAKER_11 7:09

I'm Sam Levy. I'm currently working on the show Firebringer being held at Playcrafters of Skip Act. We've been in rehearsals for about a month and a half at this point, and it's been going fantastically.

SPEAKER_06 7:20

So what drew you to Firebringer?

SPEAKER_11 7:22

I was asked to direct. Well, not I was asked to submit an application to direct from a couple of the board members. One of the board members, the treasurer, Stephanie, she approached me. She was like, hey Sam, I got a question for you. And she was basically talking about how Firebringer was one of the shows selected for Playcrafter's The Skip Act season. And she was like, I know that you were kind of interested in directing something from Star Kid. Would you want to put in for? And I was like, Yeah, let me do some research, figure out what I need to do. And so I submitted it. And then I was thankfully chosen. So I'm very appreciative of it. It's a great opportunity. This is first time directing, so it's a lot of uh a lot of growing pains, obviously. But yeah. All right. It's been a very fun time.

SPEAKER_09 8:09

So how has it been as a first-time director?

SPEAKER_11 8:12

Thankfully, with the crew and the cast that I have, it has been so easy. I kind of knew there would be more. I guess administrative work is kind of the best way to describe it. I was very surprised on just kind of how much administrative work there is just in terms of paperwork and things along the lines of meeting with the board of the theater, going through their guidelines, their step-by-step processes, what they're what's expected, going through the memberships and the clearances for everybody involved. You know, it's just a lot of administrative stuff. But thankfully, my producers that I have, they handle a lot of that stuff really, really well.

SPEAKER_06 8:51

And that leads very well into our next question, which is what work do you really not want to do today?

SPEAKER_11 8:58

That's such a great question.

SPEAKER_09 9:00

For anyone who isn't aware, although I don't know why you wouldn't be aware, there's the viral clip of the I don't really want to do the work today. I don't really want to do the work today. I don't really want to don't. I'm sorry. Anyway, so what work do you really not want to do today?

SPEAKER_11 9:17

Uh today, if we're talking about like for my actual job, we can talk about anything. Yeah, anything. The thing I really didn't really feel like doing today was I had to reach out to a couple customers and whatnot uh regarding loans. I'm still new on loans, so I'm just like, ugh.

SPEAKER_06 9:33

And I don't know if we said this. You are a banker. Yes. Yes. So reaching out about loans, no point. Are you training to be a loan shark? Oh.

SPEAKER_11 9:43

No, I don't think I'm being trained to be a loan shark, unfortunately. I think I could make some money with that.

SPEAKER_06 9:48

Subcontracted through the bank. Like, how do you become a loan shark?

SPEAKER_11 9:52

I have no idea. I think you'd have to talk to the mafia. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 9:55

So I don't know if you would consider Firebringer an obscure show, but I would consider it an obscure show. Star Kid Productions in general is very niche.

SPEAKER_11 10:04

Yeah. As someone that's been following Star Kid for a very long time, when I actually started talking with people about Star Kid, even people around my age, I'd say it's like a 50-50 shot if someone knows what I'm talking about or not. And I was like, really? Really? Starkid? It felt hand in hand to me. It's like assuming everyone knows Star Kid if you're in theater.

SPEAKER_09 10:23

Could you give us a rundown of what Star Kid Productions is and how it started?

SPEAKER_11 10:26

Oh, yeah. So Star Kid Productions, they are a YouTube theater company. They started, gosh, I don't know the exact year. I want to say like maybe 2008 or something like that. I want to say it.

SPEAKER_09 10:38

That feels very uh of YouTube, so yeah.

SPEAKER_11 10:42

So it was a bunch of theater kids in college. I think it was University of Michigan. It was like in the theater program, and they started just kind of like writing their own parody musicals, is what they primarily started with. Their most the infamous one at this point is obviously a very potter musical. Such a good one.

SPEAKER_09 10:58

I think I could probably put it on right now in front of you. I know all the words. I did say that my high school talent show. Incredible. Nerd.

SPEAKER_11 11:07

It's such a good show. But yeah, they just recorded it and just kind of put it up online and it eventually just kind of blew up, and now they have made so many shows, and they have done so many successful runs and Kickstarters, and now they're doing a show in the West End. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_09 11:25

I did see that.

SPEAKER_11 11:26

And I was like, what the hell? They've just grown into this really big thing.

SPEAKER_09 11:30

Maybe maybe we could consider Firebringer a semi-obscure show, but uh our question is what's the most obscure show that you've ever done?

SPEAKER_11 11:38

This is probably back in high school. It was the most unfunny comedy we ever did for the fall play called George Washington Slept Here. There's just these people buy a house. I think they're trying to like think about like renovating it into a bed and breakfast thing. And the reason they bought the house is because it was claimed that George Washington, the U.S. president, slept there.

SPEAKER_09 12:02

No, the other George Washington. It was Georgia Harper. Well, there's also George.

SPEAKER_05 12:11

Wait, it's not even chat.

SPEAKER_11 12:14

That is the punchline. Oh no. Like any important George Washington slept here, just a guy named George Washington. The most interesting thing about the show is at the very end, like the whole set gets destroyed. Kind of similar to like the play that goes wrong where at the end everything falls apart. But it's just it was such a dull show.

SPEAKER_06 12:30

Oh man, I'm sure it wasn't great through high school eyes either.

SPEAKER_11 12:35

No.

SPEAKER_06 12:35

But coming back to talking about Star Kid a little bit, of the people who are involved in the production, cast crew, whatever, how many people seem to be getting involved out of an interest in doing something by Star Kid versus having no idea what the show was?

SPEAKER_11 12:50

So that's a good question for the audition process. What happened? So for the audition process, one of the my starting questions for you know all the auditioners was who has heard of the show and who's heard of Star Kid? And it was again kind of like a 50-50 shot. People know the show or know of Star Kid, or people like, I don't know, I just kind of thought it was a funny sounding show, so I wanted to audition for it. In terms of the people that I casted and then my crew members, it's like a similar 50-50 shot where myself and the stage manager and whatnot, we both very much knew uh about Star Kid a very long time. Some people we brought on, like our producers, a lot of the older people that we have on the crew and whatnot. They were like, we don't know this show, but we'll definitely help out.

SPEAKER_06 13:32

When I saw Skip Back announce that Firebringer was gonna be on its lineup for this season, I was like, oh, that's that's interesting. I was thinking of it as kind of a more obscure show, as you know, you tend to see of the musicals that go up things that have been on Broadway or something. But I guess I've done some pretty obscure shows that have not been on Broadway, but few of them are from these groups that have the cult following that Starkid has. So I guess it's maybe not appropriate to think of it as obscure. I think it's obscure.

SPEAKER_09 14:01

I think it's obscure.

SPEAKER_11 14:02

I think they are starting to maybe burst their bubble, especially now that they're doing the West End production of one of their shows and whatnot. They're always expanding their own.

SPEAKER_09 14:11

Do you know if the rights to a very potter musical are available?

SPEAKER_11 14:14

On their website, they only have a few, and it's mostly the non-parody. It's mostly copyright stuff. Yeah, because of the copyright stuff.

SPEAKER_06 14:23

So I can tell you that my school, the University of maybe I should put it in this up. Naming names. We used to do this thing called the well, they they still do it. The Red Eye Theater Project. It's a 24-hour theater festival, and once a year they would do a musical. Normally it was just a bunch of one-act plays, and their inaugural musical was a very potter musical. They did not have the rights, they built it as Shrek the entire time.

SPEAKER_14 14:47

Oh, good.

SPEAKER_06 14:48

And then when it opened, it was a very potter musical. Oh my god. I mean, it was 24 hours, so like they couldn't shut us down. They couldn't stop us. I was rumble roar. That's Rumble Roar. Phenomenal. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_11 14:59

Wow. The only exception to the non-parody rule is actually twisted. So they do have twisted as an option.

SPEAKER_06 15:06

Which is basically Aladdin if you were Wicked Aldic.

SPEAKER_11 15:09

Yeah, Wicked Aladdin, following the perspective of Chabar. Gotcha. Also a great show. It's in my top five of their stuff.

SPEAKER_06 15:16

So do you have a favorite Star Kid production?

SPEAKER_11 15:18

Yes, it is. The guy who did like musicals is my favorite show that they've ever made.

SPEAKER_06 15:22

Never heard of it.

SPEAKER_11 15:23

It's the more recent ones. It's the horror musical comedy. But yeah, that is my favorite show that they've ever done.

SPEAKER_09 15:30

And is it available on YouTube?

SPEAKER_11 15:31

Yeah, all their stuff is available on YouTube. It's so funny and it's so clever too.

SPEAKER_06 15:36

Honing in, homing in, that's actually it's homing in. Is it homing in? Yeah. Um, homing in on Firebringer. Can you talk about what Firebringer is actually about?

SPEAKER_11 15:46

Okay, so I have a fun way to describe this for people that are like, I don't know what Starkid is. What's Firebringer? I typically just describe it as Firebringer is a musical comedy about cavemen discovering fire for the first time. Shenanigans ensues. It follows this tribe of these quirky characters of all different personalities and archetypes, essentially. They are just trying their best to live and survive in the crazy prehistoric world where mammoths and saber-tooth tigers and whatnot are just lurking around every corner ready to kill and eat them. The primary perspective character is Zazilil, and she is not really like an outsider, but she's a forward thinker, inventor. She tries to come up with these crazy ideas to make life easier, all in the goal of being super lazy in the end. That's what she strives for. Pure laziness.

SPEAKER_09 16:42

Lauren Lopez.

SPEAKER_11 16:43

That was Lauren Lopez's character, yeah. Yeah, just doing whatever she can to strive for pure laziness.

SPEAKER_09 16:49

Hey.

SPEAKER_06 16:50

Laziness is a mother of invention.

SPEAKER_09 16:51

You know, I was gonna say this leads into our next question really well because I think I relate really hard with what is her name? Zazalil?

SPEAKER_11 16:59

Zazlil, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 17:00

Zazlil, because our question is which character do you most relate to and why? And I'll tell you right now, man, oh man, am I a Zazlil?

SPEAKER_06 17:07

I relate to Zazilil because I have a Z in my name and it really trips people up. And so I think that creates a form of solidarity.

SPEAKER_09 17:14

Yeah, but you're like the least lazy person that I know.

SPEAKER_06 17:17

So you tell that to my mother. Esther, Esther, lay off Elisa.

SPEAKER_09 17:23

She's doing literally everything. Thank you for listening. Anyway. So which character in the show do you most relate to and why?

SPEAKER_11 17:30

Oh man, that's a tough one because they're all just such unique and interesting characters. I mean, I guess I would try and relate myself most to probably Jamila, who is the leader of the tribe. Uh, you know, she's the one that makes sure that everyone's safe, they're doing their jobs, things get done. But then there's also part of me that's like, well, I'm a little like Zazilil too, depending on the day. It's like there's some things I just don't feel like doing and whatnot, and I'll just push it to another day when I'm feeling more like Jamila that day.

SPEAKER_06 18:00

Yeah. Inside you are two cavemen. Two cave women.

SPEAKER_11 18:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 18:05

Two cavewomen.

SPEAKER_11 18:06

In every person, there are two cavemen.

SPEAKER_09 18:08

Yeah. So you talked about like mammoths and saber-toothed tigers and things. Do you think any of the perils that the characters in Firebringer come across could be made into metaphors for what we experience on the day-to-day?

SPEAKER_11 18:20

That's an interesting one because admittedly, whenever I kind of talk about Firebringer with people, it's like, well, you know, well, what about the deeper thoughts of Firebringer? I'm like, well, here's the thing. Firebringer is very just kind of forward with its simplicity in a case where, you know, at the time when it was written, it was like what, 2016 when it was written and came out. It's very simplistic, not really super forward thinking, I guess, in terms of like the deeper narratives. It's a comedy first and foremost. The point of the show is to just kind of have fun with all the silly shenanigans that the characters get themselves into.

SPEAKER_06 18:53

Yeah, I wasn't super familiar with the show beforehand, so in my last 12 hours worth of research, I looked at the soundtrack and I did see their I did listen to it, the song Ouch My Ass. Oh, ouch my butt yep, ouch my butt. I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_09 19:06

I'm a f clearly I don't know shit. We have to mention the word ass at least once in every episode. It's in our contract. Let's stop paying us. It's in our writer.

SPEAKER_11 19:14

I gotcha. Okay.

SPEAKER_09 19:15

So no deeper narrative, no metaphors to be made.

SPEAKER_11 19:18

Not really. I mean, not that I could like, you know, I've been going through the script since September, October. I've been delving through the script. I'm like, I'm sure you get your creative writing hat on tight enough. I'm sure you can think of something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:32

And you know what you call that? What? No.

SPEAKER_09 19:35

Metaphoraging. I hate you. There you go. No. I like that. You're too smug. He likes to know what he likes it. He's a guest in your house. He has to like it. Thank you, Sarah.

SPEAKER_11 19:45

That's also true. Please don't encourage her.

SPEAKER_09 19:47

It's so bad. It's so bad. Okay, so what's the vibe of the show? How do you want audiences to feel? What do you want to convey through the show?

SPEAKER_11 19:57

First and foremost, I just want the audience to have fun with the show. All the songs are beautifully written. All the harmonies sounds amazing in the soundtrack. And then not to toot my horn, but for a music director, he's done a great job. All the harmonies are super tight. Everything sounds amazing. First and foremost, I just want everyone to have fun because it's just a fun show. There's jokes every other minute.

SPEAKER_09 20:20

Are they good jokes or are they Elisa jokes?

SPEAKER_11 20:23

50-50. I could be started.

SPEAKER_05 20:27

You could hit me up, Lauren Lopez. I don't think she's in it anymore, but she's still in it.

SPEAKER_11 20:33

Oh, there's yep. Wow. Basically retains a good chunk of the people still from like all the way back in a very potter musical.

SPEAKER_06 20:40

Except for what's his face before hearing this where he sold out Megastar.

SPEAKER_11 20:44

Yeah, before he went to Glee and then got his Tony.

unknown 20:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 20:48

Listen, I would too.

SPEAKER_11 20:49

That's fair.

SPEAKER_09 20:50

Get a Tony? Yeah, you would. You already did. I did. You're horizontally Tony nominated actress.

SPEAKER_06 20:55

Um you didn't win, right? Shiny. God, why do you have to bring it up again? Is there a particular scene you're looking forward to?

SPEAKER_11 21:03

In terms of like audience reaction and whatnot, I am most looking forward to the scene where everything kind of just falls apart, which is where the song Ouch My Butt comes in. The tribe has discovered fire and it gets out of hand, everything gets set on fire, and everyone just blames Zazilil for all their problems now, and then they're about to go get themselves killed by trying to go into the den of a saber-toothed tiger. Just kind of like the downward spiral, especially with everyone's choices and whatnot. It's just so funny.

SPEAKER_06 21:32

I was also curious in reading the synopsis, I saw that there was Snarl, the saber-toothed tiger, and then a mammoth, I believe. I let's I don't know their name. Um Trunkel. Oh, Trunkel. Okay. And how how is that staged? Is that puppetry?

SPEAKER_11 21:47

We were initially looking when looking at the production side. We were initially thinking about puppetry, but just given the budget and whatnot, I was like, eh, it's probably just easier to have a person dress up in an interesting Saberto tiger costume. So we don't have the full costume yet, but it's essentially like this really intricate Sabertooth tiger. I think they went with the skull or proper mask on person's head, and then they have these like really spooky claws and whatnot, with like the really long nails and you know, just typical furs and whatnot to make up the rest of the Sabertooth tiger. Trunkel is a little bit more interesting where one of our props people, she found this rubber elephant mask on Amazon, and then just using that as a base, made it into a furry, woolly mammoth with an adjustable trunk the person can use. And then they just have like a mannequin head shoved up there on a stick. So the person that we're having B trunkel in that moment, it's a very short thing. But you know, they're just holding the stick, they're using the trunk, and they have furs draped around them.

SPEAKER_06 22:49

It's a short thing, so it's it's pretty truncated.

SPEAKER_11 22:52

Yeah. There it is.

SPEAKER_09 22:55

I want to quit this podcast and tell it about it. You know, when we started back in January, she's like, come on, it'll be fun. You'll you have to sit and talk with me all the time. And now I just I hate it.

SPEAKER_11 23:05

You have to listen to them all the time. I hate it so much.

SPEAKER_09 23:08

She's she forgot to sign a prenup. I did. So we're we're in it forever. In it forever.

SPEAKER_11 23:12

There you go.

SPEAKER_09 23:13

In in perpetual. Okay, um, so you described some really cool ways of navigating some logistical challenges that you have as community theater putting on a show that has big characters or puppet puppetry characters. But why do you think that this show works so well for community theater?

SPEAKER_11 23:30

There's the bigger aspects of the show like the puppetry and whatnot, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, the set is super simple. The costumes are the most fun parts for the characters where they're also just wearing the I call them sacks, but it's essentially like tunics, I guess, is kind of like the more like long tunics.

SPEAKER_06 23:50

Flintstone-esque.

SPEAKER_11 23:51

Kind of flintstone-esque pieces of clothing, and then they accessorize to bring their characters forward. The one character Ducker, he is the voice of the duck that the tribe worships, and you know, he's got a funny hat. He'll have like a cape that he wears around his shoulders. We're planning on having him like some feather face paint at first that he'll have on. So a lot of accessories bring the characters forward. In terms of like how easy it is for a community theater to do this show, if they want to go crazy with sets, be my guests, but in the short run of it, it's almost like a barren stage with the flats and whatnot. And the thing that'll bring the show most to life is the actors and the lighting and the props and costumes and whatnot.

SPEAKER_06 24:37

And I imagine a show that's from Starkid, considering it's a relatively small troop of folks who are funding things through Kickstarter. They're not writing these in a way that they have to be staged on some grand scale.

SPEAKER_11 24:50

Not really, no. Not in terms of like one of the more earlier works.

SPEAKER_06 24:54

Zooming out a little bit, why do you do community theater?

SPEAKER_11 24:58

Man, I have been doing theater slash community theater since eighth grade for a very long time. My first show ever was Footloose, the musical. Again, this was eighth grade, so I played The Reverend. I watched my sister do a lot of the theater stuff when she was in middle school first. I was like, cool, I want to do that. And then when I got to middle school and sixth grade, I'm like, I'm too nervous. I can't do this. And so I started in eighth grade later on. I was like, I wish I did it sooner. But ever since then, it was all hands on deck when it comes to theater at all times. I've really just kind of almost done it all. The acting, stage crew, directing for the first time, at least in terms of a major scale. I've done like small things in the past, but lighting and sound, board operation, things along those lines. So I've been wanting to try and do it all.

SPEAKER_09 25:44

Where have you been doing most of your community theater? Is it in the area?

SPEAKER_11 25:48

Mostly I've done work at DCP theater, previously known as Dutch Country Players, up in the Telford area. I have been doing stuff there since 2016.

SPEAKER_09 25:57

How do you think doing community theater serves you in your daily life?

SPEAKER_11 26:01

It's just an escape from the woes of real life. It's a place where you can go to just think about this other world. I kind of like put theater close to like reading a book. It's like this place that you go to just really invest yourself in this particular story in this world, whether that be, you know, more whimsical themes or more stark and serious themes. It's just a great place to go to just kind of like put stuff behind you and just look forward in that. And that's just kind of what it's always done for me, to be like, you know, if I'm having a tough time but I'm working on a show, it's like, okay, great. You know, I have something to look forward to.

SPEAKER_06 26:38

Do you have a preference between drama and whimsy?

SPEAKER_11 26:40

In terms of the stuff that I get cast for a lot, it's a lot of comedies. But whimsy? Yeah, a lot of whimsy.

SPEAKER_09 26:46

Excuse me. You gotta say the H. Whimsy.

SPEAKER_11 26:49

It's a lot of comedies, but I've been wanting to do more drama stuff, but every time that like something comes up, uh, I always get pulled in a different direction into another comedy before that thing comes up. I'm like, well, okay.

SPEAKER_06 27:03

In your many journeys across community theaters, who is your community theater hero? Who's somebody that you really admire, who really is pulling their weight?

SPEAKER_11 27:12

Yeah, I I would put that towards one of my favorite directors I've ever worked with, Ray Thompson. He mostly does stuff at the DCP theater. He was one of my first directors there. He directed the show Camelot, that I was a part of. Um, and he was and still is a phenomenal director. Whenever you work with Ray Thompson, he's just a riot. He's cracking jokes left, right, and center, but he also he really makes you think about a lot of things when you're going through a show. He helps you delve into characters more than you would think possible for certain pieces. He demands a lot of you as an actor, but he also pushes you to deliver more easily than you think you would. When it comes to people that I've known in theater, Bray Thompson will be my number one person.

SPEAKER_09 28:00

So nice. All right, so you've done work at DCP and now at Skipack. Have you done work in other community theaters in the area?

SPEAKER_11 28:08

Admittedly, no. My circle is kind of small, but I've been wanting to expand that. Uh there's what the players' club in Swarthmore than there's one in like what is it? Uh Hatboro, I think is another club. I think it's another like players' club of Hatboro.

SPEAKER_09 28:24

No, not another players' club. Come up with different names.

SPEAKER_11 28:27

So similar.

SPEAKER_09 28:29

The village players? Village players, yes.

SPEAKER_11 28:35

And I was like, this is a really cool theater. It's like really low ceiling. The stage itself is kind of like similar to DCP, where it's got like the top, tall ceilings and whatnot.

SPEAKER_09 28:45

I admittedly have never been to DCP. We need that. Are we bad people?

SPEAKER_11 28:50

It does feel a little out of the way and in the middle of nowhere.

SPEAKER_09 28:53

Are we bad people? Yes, but not because we haven't been to DCP.

SPEAKER_11 29:01

It is a little out of the way, admittedly. And it's kind of like in the middle of nowhere, one of their neighbors. It's so funny when you think about it as a Buddhist temple.

SPEAKER_09 29:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 29:08

And it's like just kind of in the middle of nowhere on a random road.

SPEAKER_09 29:11

Go to the temple and meditate. Exactly. And then go to the theater and laugh at your comedies. Exactly.

SPEAKER_11 29:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 29:17

I don't see a problem. Yeah. You erase yourself meditating to become your character. Exactly. Yeah. Actually, perfectly thought-out planning, if you think about it.

SPEAKER_11 29:25

Exactly. It helps.

SPEAKER_09 29:27

And do the players at the at DCP take advantage of the Buddhist temple.

SPEAKER_11 29:32

Not that anyone that I've known has actively tried to take advantage of the Bible.

SPEAKER_09 29:36

You know what? I think next time you're doing character building exercises, you should go over to the temple, do a little meditation, try to clear out the ego.

SPEAKER_11 29:44

Yeah. If they ever have their gates open, then sure.

SPEAKER_09 29:47

Okay. Oh, maybe it's just a front.

SPEAKER_06 29:49

Maybe it's not a temple after all.

SPEAKER_11 29:50

Who knows?

SPEAKER_06 29:52

I believe it was the Buddha who said, oh God, here we go. Zap, bzap.

SPEAKER_11 29:58

War flash, but good lord.

SPEAKER_09 30:04

And that one got me. All right. So this may be a little difficult because you admitted off the record before we started that you haven't listened to a single one of our episodes.

SPEAKER_06 30:14

And as we've told everyone who we know, if you haven't listened to our podcast, it does mean you hate us. You personally hate you. We've never met before today, but you do hate us.

SPEAKER_11 30:23

No, I'll binge watch all of them to make it even when I get home.

SPEAKER_09 30:28

But even so, what we'd like you to do to finish out our interview is to have you compliment our podcast in the way that you would compliment a friend who's just been in a really bad show.

SPEAKER_11 30:42

Wow. You know, like that was that was so fun. You know, it was great. Everyone just really seemed like they were doing a good job and having fun. And you know, they really seemed to know what they were doing.

SPEAKER_06 30:54

Thank you so much. I mean, I personally know what I'm doing. Yeah, some of those other, some of those other jokers. Yeah, that Aliza.

SPEAKER_14 31:02

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_06 31:04

Did you see what she did? The Buddha thing was really offensive. The Buddha thing was super offensive.

SPEAKER_09 31:12

All right, Sam. Thank you so much for taking the time to come out and talk with us.

SPEAKER_11 31:17

Of course. Thank you for having me. I was glad to be given this opportunity.

SPEAKER_06 31:20

All right, thank you for that.

SPEAKER_09 31:21

We're looking forward to seeing Firebringer.

SPEAKER_06 31:23

Thank you so much to Sam for coming and talking to us about Firebringer. We're really excited to see it. Up next is Lara's interviews with the cast because unfortunately I could not be there. However, I know several people in the cast and I love them with my whole heart. I don't know. We've established that if you don't come, that's so true. Shit, I do hate them. Elisa hates the cast. That's true. I'm so sorry, guys. I didn't I didn't want it to be this way. But it is, you know. So let's hear what Elisa missed out on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 31:55

Hi, I am Akiva Harker, and I am playing Smelly Balls.

SPEAKER_09 31:59

That's your character's name.

SPEAKER_10 32:00

That is my character's name. For marketing's sake, we uh he is called Espy.

SPEAKER_09 32:03

Good to know. Okay, so who is Espy?

SPEAKER_10 32:06

He's not very smart, but he's big, um, and he is uh uh according to the leader of the tribe, Jamila, he is well named, and that's basically all we know about him.

SPEAKER_09 32:14

Wow, okay. Do you relate to Espy in any way?

SPEAKER_10 32:18

He's really sure about himself, but so not really.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

So I'm Bernor, I am them, and I'm gonna be playing Tibblin. Okay, who is Tibblin? Tibblin holds up the sky for the tribe. So she has a very big job. Whoa, very big responsibility. Atlas, yeah, like I'm keeping things running here. Oh, so yeah, that's not for you. Yeah, and like as far as her personality, she's just kind of naive and sweet, but I think they all are. I mean, it's like early humans discovering things, figuring things out, so they have a lot to learn still. I don't relate to her in more ways than I do. There are things that I do relate to her on, but like this has been this is actually my second show ever of all time. I'm excited to be my second show ever. I'm excited to have more than one line. Wait, wait, who were you in track? I was the mad hatter. And what was the line? I've ridiculed my hat.

SPEAKER_12 33:10

Hi, my name is Chuck Berdani, and I play the role of Ducker. Ducker is the tribal shaman. So he is the one who has been told of the almighty and powerful duck who created the universe. Uh so he uh brings the others to worship the duck. I believe Ducker wants to understand the universe, he wants to understand humanity and where everything has come from. But he enjoys his position for personal gain.

SPEAKER_09 33:36

Okay. You know what? Who amongst us hasn't, you know, at one point or another. Firebringer is comedy heavy, but some of the things that you're describing for Ducker are a bit heavier and a bit more complex. Do you think that that comes through despite the comedic tone of the entire show?

SPEAKER_12 33:53

I think if you listen to the lyrics and listen to the dialogue, there's certainly a satire about uh life and who we are as people. Uh, there's a particular line in the in the show the one character is basically saying, like, innovation is in place so that we could basically just become lazy. And you think about all the technology and all the different things that we have, that kind of drives us towards not wanting to work and and just sitting back and not doing anything. Let either somebody else do it or technology do it for us or something along those lines.

SPEAKER_09 34:24

So what you're saying is firebringer is a political commentary on AI usage.

SPEAKER_05 34:29

That's what I'm hearing. So my name is Erin Dipold, and I have the role of Molog in the show. Molog is the warbringer. So she was the chief of the tribe prior to the current chief. Uh, she's the eldest, wisest of the tribe. Uh, and she's kind of the narrator in this show. Okay. Is she breaking the fourth wall? Oh, always. Oh, okay. Constantly calling calling the audience privileged fucks specifically. So it's a very fun role.

SPEAKER_09 34:55

You know what? I wasn't until this moment completely sold on the content of this show.

SPEAKER_05 35:00

And yet now I am deeply invested. It's an interesting role. She only directly interacts with one or two of the characters, and a couple of them are also in fourth wall-breaking scenes where they're not actually interacting. They can kind of just hear me egging them on, messing with them. And so I'm mainly interacting with the audience and then Jamila, who is the new tribal leader when we start our show.

SPEAKER_09 35:26

Do you think that Mulog actually exists?

SPEAKER_05 35:28

Oh, I love that question because I have been playing with that in my head so much. I think she exists. Unfortunately, I would love for her to be a figment of all our imagination. But I do think she is this like duality of a character. We're to the tribe, she's this aggressive war master, but really, she's just a little silly goober who's trying to mess with everyone.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

My name is Evan McClelland, and I'm the music director. This is uh third time now, third show here. Well, second time music directing, third show. Uh it's really fun. I did not really know Firebringer going into this show. I knew basically just the I don't really want to do the work today meme. That was pretty much it. I didn't know what to expect with the music, but it's been more interesting and kind of challenging to tackle music than I was uh anticipating, which has been fun to sink my teeth into. I think there's gonna be something to listen to for anyone. A lot of different feelings of songs. Coming from a music perspective, I think that's what I would say is something that people could really look forward to. Like a lot of different feelings and vibes and sort of things that touch on a little bit of different genres. There's more going on with ensemble parts than I would have first anticipated, and it's got some more interesting parts going on in there that make it more fun to teach, and I think make it more fun for them to sing as well.

SPEAKER_09 36:48

This is exciting. We have our first repeat guest on the podcast. Please introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_13 36:53

Hello, my name is Gregory Cooker.

SPEAKER_09 36:55

Hold on a second. Gregory Cooker of Rent Fame.

SPEAKER_13 36:59

Oh, please. And who are you? I hope you saw it.

SPEAKER_09 37:02

And if you didn't, and if you didn't suck.

SPEAKER_13 37:07

In the show, I'm playing Grunt. Who is Grunt? He is just this funny little outsider who stumbles upon this woman and immediately falls in love because he has no home training. Who does?

SPEAKER_07 37:19

I fall in love, you know.

SPEAKER_13 37:20

Hey, in the club.

SPEAKER_07 37:22

In the club on the subway. So we relate to Grunt.

SPEAKER_13 37:25

We do relate. I think just like growing up as like a black gay male and not really like fitting standards. I think that's where like our parallels are. He's just by himself. His experience is different. He just like has to teach himself all these things and learn. I feel I relate to that heavily.

SPEAKER_09 37:42

Firebringer is known for the viral meme. I don't really want to do the work today. Greg Cooker, one of the hardest working community theater people I know.

SPEAKER_13 37:50

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_09 37:51

But what is the work that you don't want to do today?

SPEAKER_13 37:53

Uh laundry? What the fuck is that?

SPEAKER_09 37:55

What is that?

SPEAKER_13 37:56

That's a scam from the government.

SPEAKER_09 37:57

Is Firebringer the most obscure show you've ever been a part of? What are you debating about?

SPEAKER_13 38:01

Or James and the Giant Peach. Yeah. Because what is that? That's like if like Annie was for a boy, but that boy had mushrooms. And it makes no sense.

SPEAKER_04 38:10

It doesn't make any sense. No. My name's Haley. I play Chorn. She is kind of an anomaly. So she's a fun character because she really does just like observe everything and tries to take it in and kind of figure out what this world is while also manipulating some things, possibly. So it's that's kind of fun where it's like I have had times in my life where I'm kind of watching and observing in that sense. I relate to her. It's more like physical and and facially acting for a lot of at least most of Act One. Um so fun acting challenge for sure.

SPEAKER_09 38:36

Uh what's your favorite part of the show?

SPEAKER_04 38:38

The cast is so fun. It's a very, it's a very funny show. So I love just seeing how everyone's personality comes through. Um the choreography is really fun.

SPEAKER_06 38:46

Hi, my name is Jules Smith and I play Schwopsi. Schwopsi is the inventor of comedy, no pun intended, the comedic relief. Love it. And do you relate to Schwopsi? Yeah, so actually I used to do stand-up comedy, and I also think that I'm the funniest person I know. Could you give me a little bit of stand-up? I could tell you my favorite joke that I tell everybody if you would like. Um, all right, so what's a windmill's favorite type of music? I don't know. I don't know either, but I heard it's a big metal fan.

SPEAKER_09 39:12

Oh, oh it is such a shame that Elise is not here right now, my co-host. She would have loved that joke. And is is how she invents comedy a secret?

SPEAKER_06 39:22

So I don't think they ever actually directly say how she invents it, but she has the joke. So she has one joke that she tells multiple times throughout the show because it is the joke. It's the only joke. It is the only joke. Do you feel like you were typecast? Maybe. I'd like to think so because that just means everyone else agrees that I'm funny.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

My name is Justin Soratura. I play as Clark at the show. I'm also Snarl, the Sabertooth Tiger.

SPEAKER_09 39:46

Oh, okay. So who's Clark?

SPEAKER_00 39:48

Clark is one of the Neanderthals. He's like the leader of them all. He is married to Jamila because Jamila had entered the tribe and he had decided to marry the best one after discovering her all alone.

SPEAKER_09 39:59

I see. And then you said you're also a saber-toothed tiger?

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Yes, his name is Snarl. Everyone fears Snarl. They have to run away from him because let's just be real, Snarl's terrifying. He he might eat people.

SPEAKER_09 40:11

So who do you relate to more? Uh Clark or Snarl?

SPEAKER_00 40:14

I definitely relate to Clark a lot more because I like to think that I can lead and help people a lot just like Clark does.

SPEAKER_09 40:21

And uh, what's your favorite part about the show?

SPEAKER_00 40:23

My favorite part about the show is just how fun and wholesome it is.

SPEAKER_09 40:27

Firebringer's known for the viral meme, I don't really want to do the work today. So, Justin, what is the work that you don't really want to do today?

SPEAKER_00 40:33

Sometimes I don't feel like doing any work today. All I want to do is sit down, write my stories, have a beer in my hand, preach. I don't want to do any of the work today.

SPEAKER_15 40:42

My name is Katie Henschel, and I'm playing Jamila. Jamila is the tribe leader. She kind of keeps everybody together, keeps everything in line. Pretty much is supposed to always know the answer to everything.

SPEAKER_09 40:52

Oh, do you relate to Jamila?

SPEAKER_15 40:54

I do because I'm a little bit of a control freak. But um, she definitely the thing about Jamila though is that she's usually right. Um, I'm not always right, although I like to be.

SPEAKER_09 41:04

But you said you said usually. You didn't say always, you said usually. That's true. So do you feel like you're usually right?

SPEAKER_15 41:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 41:10

Okay. Is there anyone out there that would refute that claim?

SPEAKER_15 41:15

My son.

SPEAKER_09 41:16

Ah, well, you know, so I'm asking everyone the same question. What is the work that you really don't want to do?

SPEAKER_15 41:22

The work I really don't want to do. I have to say it's meal prep, to be honest. I hate having to decide what everyone's eating.

SPEAKER_09 41:30

Okay, so then my question would be: if you lived in caveman times and you didn't have a stove or an oven, all you had was, I guess, a fire eventually, but not at first. I didn't have very many choices. Do you think your quality of life would be improved? Probably not. Try to say you're the first person to say that. Everyone else has been like, yeah, I think it'd be better if we were cavemen.

SPEAKER_15 41:53

No, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna take a hard pass on that.

SPEAKER_09 41:56

All right, fair enough. What are you most looking forward to in this show?

SPEAKER_15 41:59

I'm a um 17-year Star Kid fan. So being in a Star Kid show is so huge to me. And I just know that opening night just hearing those bongos um star in the song fire. I know that's just gonna be so so huge for me. So this was a comfort musical for me for such a long time. It still is, and uh yeah, I'm just really honored to be in it.

SPEAKER_09 42:26

So I guess you wouldn't consider this an obscure show then, since you are you're part of the the dedicated fan base.

SPEAKER_15 42:32

I am, I am. I'm a fandom girly. To me, it's not obscure. Most people, I would say, well, actually, everyone that I've told so far about this show goes, Oh, that's interesting. What is that? And I don't think the show is really what they expect to know.

SPEAKER_09 42:47

What do you think they're gonna like the most about this show?

SPEAKER_15 42:51

I think this show is so much fun. It's funny, the harmonies are beautiful, and the choreography is delicious. It's gonna be so fun to watch.

SPEAKER_03 43:00

My name is Kelly Wagner. I am playing Zazalil, who is the Firebringer. Firebringer, the show itself, is about cave people discovering fire. So I just so happen to stumble across some fire in a in a freak turn of events.

SPEAKER_09 43:15

Okay. No spoilers. No spoilers, just hints. Yes. Okay, great. Do you relate to your character at all?

SPEAKER_03 43:22

I definitely do. Um, Zaz is very, she's looking for the easy way out, you know. She's definitely a little lazy, but she's got great ideas.

SPEAKER_09 43:30

Zazilil is the one who sings the viral meme. I don't really want to do the work today. That is correct. All right. So, what is the work that you don't really want to do today?

SPEAKER_03 43:39

Well, Jamila's all about discovery and us doing the same things every day. And Zazil's just not feeling like we're making any progress. Gotcha. Um, her friend has just discovered and invented dancing. So she wants to dance and sing. And Jamila's like, we gotta work. Well, I meant you, Kelly. What is the work that you don't want to do today? Well, I I'm a preschool teacher and I love my job. So that is work that I'm okay with doing. I hate the vacuum. It's so heavy. The cord gets all tangled, like, and you're lifting it up the stairs.

SPEAKER_09 44:10

I can't If you were living back in caveman times, the lack of a vacuum would improve your quality of life? I believe so.

SPEAKER_17 44:16

Yeah. I mean the cave. You don't gotta vacuum the cave. My name is Maya Chester Ziv, and I'm playing Emberly. Emberly is the nerdy, anxious, quirky cavewoman of the tribe. Okay. How does a how can a cave woman be nerdy? So she is the food collector. Everything that she does is very meticulous and thought out. I guess as thought out as a cave woman can be.

SPEAKER_09 44:43

I was wondering if, like, you know, the cave woman was a fan of Lord of the Rings or something like that, you know?

SPEAKER_17 44:47

Well, you know, not to spoil anything, there's kind of a crazy moment at the end, and I really feel as though uh it affects her nerdy side deeply. Do you relate to Emberly? Very much so. I think Sam was fabulous in his intuition and his casting. As kind of a little anxious, nerdy girl myself. I really find myself falling into this role quite easily.

SPEAKER_09 45:09

Okay. And do you think that audiences will relate to Emberly?

SPEAKER_17 45:11

I think so. I think there's a little anxious, nerdy cave person in all of us. Okay. What makes Emberly anxious? I think she really cares for the well-being of everybody within her tribe. And in her food collecting, she wants to sustain them well. There's a lot of anxiety in all of the forces of nature and forces of man that kind of come at her from all angles as she tries to just do her job and keep her head on straight.

SPEAKER_16 45:40

I'm Olivia Ruth and I'm playing Kiri. So Kiri is Zazilil's best friend. She kind of just follows her around a lot and she um collects nuts, but she's not very good at it.

SPEAKER_09 45:50

Do you relate to Kiri at all?

SPEAKER_16 45:52

A little bit. I like how she feels good when she knows that somebody else is leading and feels secure if somebody else knows what's to do.

SPEAKER_09 45:59

Is this your first show at Skip Eck?

SPEAKER_16 46:01

This is my first one acting in it. I music directed a show last year. Alright, what show did you music direct? Footloose. How was that? Oh, it was so much fun. Um, my friend Greg is in the show and was in the. I know Greg.

SPEAKER_09 46:11

Greg has already been on the podcast.

SPEAKER_16 46:14

Most of my community theater shows that I've done, he's been into, and it's been so nice, and it's so fun to do show, like audition with a friend, and then get in the show together.

SPEAKER_09 46:22

Would you say that Greg is your Zazlil?

SPEAKER_16 46:24

He's absolutely my Zazlil. Yes.

SPEAKER_09 46:28

What are you most excited about for this show?

SPEAKER_16 46:30

I really like the like themes of like womanhood and figuring it out on our own. Um, and so I I haven't been in a show in a while that has mostly women leads, and I think it's just so funny. We're gonna be trying really hard not to laugh on stage. So hopefully that good energy is will bring people in to the show and have fun.

SPEAKER_08 46:50

Well, you've sold me. Thanks again to Sam and to the casting crew of Firebringer for taking the time to speak with us. You can catch their production June 19th through July 12th at Playcrafters of Skidback. You can purchase tickets on their website, playcrafters.org, and you can follow them on Instagram at Playcrafters Skidback. Rehearsal Tracks is mixed and edited by us, Laura Download and Aliza Ferman. Lauren Grondel is our health and safety manager, and Dana Weinstein is our Foley artist. You can get in contact with us by sending us a message on Instagram at Rehearsaltrackspod, or send us an email at rehearsaltrackspod at gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Break a leg.